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Microsoft Office Preview for Android Tablets Open to All

Android tablet users will be able to take advantage of the new Office preview that is now available to all comers. Microsoft announced this week that it is expanding its preview program for 7” and 10.1” tablets running either Android 4.4 KitKat or the recently released 5.0 Lollipop.

Microsoft Office on Android

When Microsoft first invited users to test Office on their Android devices back in November, it was relegated to ARM-based tablets running KitKat. Now the company has added Lollipop to testing and has also opened it to the public since the program received overwhelming response.

Yes, your device has to be a tablet – smartphones have to wait for now. The apps are the same Office core apps available on iPad – Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You no longer need to request access to the apps. and you can get them at the links shown below.

When installing the programs the first time, you’ll see that they are still optimized for KitKat, if you see the warning message below, just tap Continue and they’ll still work.

Remember that these are “preview” or beta versions, so expect instability and several bugs while using it. While you’re testing it, Microsoft would appreciate if you would offer feedback in its Google+ community.

Speaking of the Nexus 7, I don’t recommend updating to Android 5.0 just to test Office out. There are several complaints that after updating to Lollipop on the 2012 version of the tablet, it slows it down considerably. I can attest to that too, and I ended up doing a complete factory reset, which has helped out somewhat. So just stick with KitKat and your overall experience should be much better.

How about you? Are you going to start testing Office on your Android tablet? Leave a comment below and tell us your thoughts.

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About Brian Burgess

Based in MN, Brian Burgess is Editor in Chief at groovyPost. He also has contributed to other notable tech sites including InformationWeek and How-To Geek. Follow him on Twitter @mysticgeek.